The carmaker announced that Doug Field is joining the Blue Oval as the chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer.

Field was a top engineer at Tesla between two stints at Apple and played a major role in launching the Model 3 sedan. He began his career though with Ford where he worked as a development engineer from 1987 to 1993.

Field will lead Ford’s Embedded Software and Hardware organization currently consisting of Vehicle Controls, Enterprise Connectivity, Features, Integration & Validation, Architecture & Platform, Driver Assistance Technology and Digital Engineering Tools. This includes:

• Leading design, development and implementation of the Blue Oval Intelligence tech stack for Ford, Lincoln, and Ford Pro products to create intuitive, always-on experiences for customers
• Delivering customer-facing attributes, technologies and features, such as infotainment, navigation, driver-assist technology, connected services and vehicle cybersecurity
• Developing scalable technology platforms that can be deployed across Ford global products
• Leading and managing relationships with key technology partners and the digital developer ecosystem
• Leading Ford Power-Up over-the-air updates to delight customers, improve quality and reduce costs

In Field’s departure, Apple has appointed one of its software executives, Kevin Lynch to oversee its self-driving car project. Lynch currently runs the software group for Apple’s smartwatch and health efforts.

It’s unclear if the company will eventually tap a different leader for its car effort—known internally as Project Titan—if it advances far enough for Apple to have confidence in launching a full self-driving vehicle.

Field’s departure for Ford was seen as a sign that an Apple car wasn’t coming in the near future.

Work on the product remains early, with employees inside Apple anticipating that it won’t launch for many years.